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I'm handing in my senior thesis for my BA in Political Science with an emphasis on international relations. All obstacles standing in the way of my degree have been circumvented. I'm so happy to have this milestone inevitably behind me.
Will I go on to a Master's Degree? Only time will tell, but for now I am happy to hand in this massive paper and be done with school for now.
--- My wife and I still love each other, I'm not a bachelor in the sense that I am single again. Believe me if that happens you'll hear about that too.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Blayne Bradley: Now what was your first semester like as my first semester is in PoliSci as well, and Ild like to get as high a mark as possible.
Be ready to completely reevaluate ANY political idea you've got between now and the day you graduate. You're wrong about several things, you just don't realize it yet. If the BlackBlade of 2003 met the BlackBlade of today, they would have a lot of things to disagree on.
I think teachers will have as large an effect on your semesters as any other single factor. I walked into a political science class just to fill a general ed requirement and my teacher completely captivated me. He was an Iranian immigrant who got his degree at Harvard years ago. As Iran was figuring very largely in international relations, it was 2004 at the time, the whole semester was very demonstrative of political sciences' power to interpret events rationally, as well as using the past to predict the future.
I noticed that I understood the concepts he presented, that I was able to handle politically themed papers quite well, and that my mind was drawn to the material even outside the classroom. I started reading more history books and reading the news more, and pretty soon I realized I needed to change majors to Political Science from Criminal Justice.
Take classes from the teachers you like, even if the subjects seem a little out there. If they fit in with your degree requirements it doesn't matter, you'll learn important things. I took classes like Environmental History of the US, International Terrorism, World Geography, and Political Geography from the same teacher because I liked him quite a bit and everything I learned in that class has implications for Political Science. If there is a class with a teacher you dislike but it has to be taken, grit your teeth and find a way to get that particular teacher to grant you a decent grade.
You've got some pretty unorthodox opinions regarding Russia and China, but don't let folks push you around in the classroom. Even if you're dead wrong you can force others to back up their ideas. Remember though that I told you to be prepared to discard every political view you hold sacred.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Blayne Bradley
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Thats one thing you can say about me is that I'm stubborn as a dead mule petrified into the earths crust.
That and I come up with unorthodox metaphors.
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Blayne Bradley
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I'm not sure how many classes I need in my first semester but the courses that definately interest me are:
That Really interest me: INTRO TO INTERNATIONAL POLI CONTEMP ISSUES GLOBAL POLI ISSUES IN GLOBAL POLITICS POLITICS OF EASTERN EUROPE CONTEMPORARY POLITICS-CHINA ASIA AND POWER POLITICS
That Sorta interest me: PUBLIC SECURITY & TERRORISM POLITICS AND ECONOMY
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quote:I'm not sure how many classes I need in my first semester but the courses that definately interest me are...
Blayne, let me say -- based on my familiarity with most college procedures -- that this is IMO entirely the wrong approach to take.
You want to start out majoring in Poli Sci and then, if all goes well, go into game programming, right?
What you absolutely need to do is talk to your advisor and tell him or her this, then ask which classes you absolutely must take. I strongly suspect, given your plan and your limited budget, that you'll find your first two years won't have room for many optional courses at all.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I look back fondly on becoming a Master. I'll be a Doctor next year, which is all well and good. But it doesn't have the same ring as "Master." Posts: 1068 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Congrats, BlackBlade. Are you going to BYU or UVU? Was Masoud your Iranian professor? I had him for History of Iran, and that was an amazing class.
Posts: 364 | Registered: Dec 2005
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Amilia: UVU, and yes Masoud Kazemzadeh was my instructor! I'm so pleased you got to attend his classes too.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Cool. Now I'm curious who your favorite professor was--the one you mentioned above who you took all of those classes from. Looking at the current staff, it looks like most of them are new from when I was there, but Dr. Brown and Dr. Stecker were both wonderful.
Posts: 364 | Registered: Dec 2005
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Dante: I have a masters degree. I really don't like the title as "master" tends to be sex specific and "mistress" has sexual connotations. =(
I shoulda gone on to get my doctorate, but I was completely sick of school and my grades were starting to reflect that.
Posts: 7085 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Amilia: I took all the listed classes from Doctor John Moore. He had a PHD in Geography from Yale, and I greatly enjoyed his classes. He left UVU just this past year to teach at a university in Ohio, which one escapes me.
Pixiest: What's wrong with girls having advanced degrees? I think something like that is inevitably hot even without the connotations of "mistress."
edit: Why should we give up master and mistress to the BDSM community?
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Congratulations, BlackBlade!
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